unclutter | Entries tagged with feelings of triumph

It has come in small bursts of activity here and there, but in April I did manage to find new homes for over 80 fanzines, took a couple boxes of linens, clothes and small decorative items to the charity donation place, used up some older foods in the pantry, and finally finished my family photo curation project! 10 smallish albums and a lot of boxes were condensed down to one large photo album and two smaller ones, encompassing 160 years of family history dating back to the US Civil War in the 1860s. I can't tell you how many photos I eliminated and tossed, but it was 2 large trash bags full. There are still a lot of photos and each and every one has been identified with names, approximate ages, dates and locations. It was such an emotional journey to winnow these down. I confess to having shed a lot of tears during the process and my goodness, it was HARD. But it is DONE!

Hoping to repeat the success in May, with another large collection of fanzines and clearing my desk and paper files to something more manageable. And possibly start packing up some moving boxes. I may get rid of some furniture pieces as well, since I am downsizing to a much smaller place.

Current Mood: peaceful

sisterofbloomerjunior

Specifically, the five gallon bucket of carpet adhesive I had mentioned previously. The only other things I deposited were a couple of AA batteries.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Fan

sisterofbloomerjunior

I finally managed to clear out the area underneath the basement stairs so we can take shelter there during tornadoes. Really the most labor intensive part was bringing the five gallon bucket of carpet adhesive up the back stairs to the garage - will have to take that to the hazardous waste disposal center.

Thankfully the Rubbermaid Roughneck was easier to get to the curb. Also placed a couple of metal things for scrappers on top of it. I’ll have to wash the blankets and bolts of fabric that were stored in there, then ask Mom if we could donate some of the blankets. I know she’d allow me to donate the fabric.

Came back from donating a closet organizing kit. The box was damaged during a flood, but I have two weeks to cut it up for recycling.

And the rest was just moving a floor scrubber and other tools to another corner.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Location: Living room
Current Music: School parking lot

sisterofbloomerjunior

So the other large deed I did today was move the clothes racks from the basement upstairs. However, only one of them remained intact for me to still hang items on. The metal pieces of the other one was placed in the alley since the plastic connecting pieces fell apart when I moved the rack towards the back stairs.

I was originally going to contact the people that operate the donation table I mentioned July 29th to see if they wanted at least one of the racks to hang additional clothes on, but now either the city or scrappers will take care of the disassembled one. Ah, well. :/

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Upstairs
Current Music: Fan

the_broken_tower

Out with the old, and in with the new!

I emptied about half the refrigerator's contents in old food.

Grossness

Old pickles, half-used dried up jams, 'surprise! you don't like these' artichoke hearts, umeboshi and THREE containers of miso from five years ago (they're probably technically still edible, too! D:), and what used to be a bag of brussels sprouts but declined into a bag of mold...

I cleared out similar items from the pantry, too. All those stale sheets of seaweed, old bonito flakes, kombu, and expired Ikea gravy packets - in the trash!

The idea now is to ditch something if it isn't used within a week, and only have one item of each type in there at a time. If a new food is a slump and no one likes it? In the trash, clean the jar, don't buy it again.

I'm debating now whether to restock on the more seldom-used pantry ingredients I got rid of... It would be nice to have more umeboshi and miso, if they actually get used.

- Aa (she/her)

yukonsally

The other day, I cleaned out a drawer and threw out some things. I found a velvet draw string bag, took a picture and offered it on FB, to remember--wait--Spouse said something about liking the idea of all cloth gift bags instead of the paper ones we use and reuse to the death of the paper. Took that offer down right away and added this bag to our gift wrapping stash. (I have previously given away the specific bags for baby showers and such, occasions we don't often attend. I'd rather give a box of diapers than clothes or a toy. Throw a bow on the diaper box and sign the card and move on.)

Decluttering is about finding what we have and getting rid of what we don't use. I'm glad I realized we could use that bag before someone claimed it.

(Weeks ago, Spouse found a CD opener that I was thrilled to have because I've been looking for one. It's now with the rest of the stereo things. I saw them in the store for a dollar last week. Mine was paid for years ago!)

Speaking of claiming, I am slowly finding a few things to offer on FB to friends, but I need to be careful. I have only 8 padded envelopes left! What a great feeling, that I have a manageable shipping stash and people are using what I don't need.

Tomorrow, I'll ship 2 packages, drop a few things off at a second hand store, and give some more handmedowns to a friend. I plan to put 2 foodstuffs in a blessing box, 2 things we'll never use but are perfectly good and still factory sealed.

Does anyone do any special efforts prior to the gift giving holidays? I try to get the kids to give away a few things they don't play with. One child understands I give away things they don't use or wear, the other is too young to notice. I hope to give away a few toys before more toys come into the house. We avoid going overboard with gifts in December, birthdays, and other gift giving holidays, but it's still a good idea to pass other toys along so we have room to play.

yukonsally

Huh. I have run out of things to give away on facebook.

Time to dig deeper. I am now pondering my greeting card stash--this does get used at least twice a week, but some cards have languished. Time go gut it more. And deal with the kids' coloring books, stickers, etc. Those bins are out of control.

Be gone, all useless junk!

Halloween did not result in all of the tiny toys disappearing from the house. I can save the rest for next year and store it in the box with the decorations, rather than in a bag at my desk. Bonus: less chance of the kids discovering this stash when it's packed away in storage. They are constantly in the office and poke around everywhere. And next year, I can probably get away with buying one bag of candy.

I have about 10 padded envelopes left--part of the goal of giving things away on fb was shipping to friends using our giant stash of envelopes. I have bubble wrap ready to head out the door tonight. The shipping materials are officially under control!

This week, I will send a thing to a friend (hoping to send things to a second friend while I am there!), recycle 2 electronics cords, donate ONE thing to goodwill, hope to give a small package to a friend in person.

Now... does anyone need "happy retirement" greeting cards? No?

yukonsally

Decluttering is a hard and long process.

What do you do for a quick win, a boost?

Clean off the fridge, notes and expired coupons? Deal with the junk drawer? Clear off the kitchen counter?

I like to gather and return library books. We usually have 10 or so and even just returning these picture books can open up space to put the rest of the picture books away, off the floor and a bit more organized.

pinkadot89

I threw out that giant stuffed frog from my ex, as well as other stuffed animals from him! I just decided that it needs to be done, so why not today? I feel a little uneasy knowing that I put someone's gifts in the trash, but I'm sure it'll be better than feeling sad every time I look at one of them. Now I have my storage bin back, and was able to put stuff away that had been cluttering my room. :)

Current Mood: accomplished

beachlass

magazine (subscription)

OUT

a couple of bottles of stuff I threw out rather than guess their age and put in the bathroom
an LED stick on light
small stack of papers
whatever was left on the kitchen table when I rescued (and put away!) all the "to keep" items
the big cardboard box from my new (pink!) filing cabinet
knifeblock

FOUND

some yen and toonies
2 letters I thought I'd mailed two weeks ago *facepalm*

CLEARED OFF

dining room table
kitchen table (I don't even know when I had it last cleaned off)
telephone stand
kitchen counters
kitchen shelving unit

CLEARING OUT

the kids' books, cds and knife block are going into the car to go to the thrift shop on my way to yoga class
empty wine bottles will be returned
recycling and garbage got put out this morning

miss_s_b

Out: ( 32 items )
In: ( 9 items )
Totals:

Running: -23
Out: -32
In: +9
Days: +6

Grand Total: -40

I am now at the stage where I am far enough ahead that I might start to get smug and complacent. Must guard against this. Also, when I say "I" cleaned the bathroom, I really mean that James and I cleaned the bathroom together. Which makes it a lot easier.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: in bed

miss_s_b

I totally cleaned out the kitchen, which is good! Scrubbed out all the cupboards and cleaned the oven and everything! But then I went to ikea, and bought New Things, which is bad... However, I am still quite a lot in credit. Witness!

In: ( 52 items )

Out: ( 79 items )

Totals:

Running: 0
Days: +4
Out: -79
In: +52

Grand total = -23 !!!!

Nothing felt so good as throwing that knackered old coffee table into the timber skip at the tip, and watching it pinwheel down to the bottom, shedding its three remaining legs on the way. It made a very satisfying crashing noise. Today I plan to finish scrubbing the hob and surfaces, and then sort out some clothes for the charity shop. Which will put me even more in credit! YAY!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: sofa
Current Music: My boys playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii

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Page generated May. 25th, 2025 11:26 pm

uncluttering one day and one thing at a time

Entries tagged with feelings of triumph

April Progress!

🎺🎷🎵Yes, We remembered to haul hazardous waste in September…🎶

Gimme shelter.

Hoping our seasonal clothing is all together now.

Refrigerator Cleansing

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I did it!

clean all the things?

I have now cleaned the bathroom.

I have cleaned the kitchen. This will be a big post.

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May 2025

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